


A Thousand Times Good Night

by PlanetaryMusical



Category: A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)
Genre: Drama, F/M, First Time, Fluff, Romance, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:35:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26192023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlanetaryMusical/pseuds/PlanetaryMusical
Summary: Just a little "What if" to the nightly hotel scene in the movie.
Relationships: Anna Barnes/Albert Stark (Million Ways to Die in the West)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	A Thousand Times Good Night

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there,  
> I know this fandom is a little deserted but I thought I might drop this little something here I had in mind recently as I rewatched the movie.  
> I consider it an alternate to my personal plot line here, so I didn't add it to the "million reasons" series.
> 
> I just had noticed while watching the movie how deeply longing they looked at each other as they parted at the hotel, just as if they didn't want to say goodbye, and I somehow had the Shakespeare quote from Romeo and Juliet in my head.
> 
> Well, here we go, you fluffy lambs :D 
> 
> PM

_A thousand times good night._  
_A thousand times the worse, to want thy light._  
_Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books,_  
_but love from love, toward school with heavy looks._  
_-_  
_William Shakespeare_

It was quite a distance from the farm out in the prairie to the hotel in town, but Anna somehow just wished for it to be a little longer. Or maybe for the time to pass a little slower.   
Too soon she saw the dimly lights of the thoroughfare appear, illuminating the way to where she would have to leave the place on Curtis’s back behind Albert, her arms wrapped around his waist. And she felt that she didn’t want to let go.

They hadn’t talked on the way over, they actually hadn’t said much more than a few words since he had apologised for kissing her.

_“I shouldn’t have done that. You’ve just been a really good friend to me, that’s all.”_

A good friend. Yes, that’s what they were. What else... He was about to fight for getting his girlfriend back tomorrow morning, and she, Anna, had even prepped him to do that, so, sure. They were nothing but good friends.

But why had his words pierced her to the inside, why did her lips still tingle from meeting his as like it just happened, why did she feel that she wanted them back on hers, like right now?

Little did he know, that it had been the first proper kiss in her life. A kiss, she remembered herself dreaming of as a young girl. A kiss so beautiful that she never had expected to share, though. And that she probably never ever would share again.

They reached the front porch of the hotel. Anna loosened her hold on Albert, dismounted the horse and took her purse from Plugger’s mouth who’d carried it for her. 

She smiled politely at Albert as he secured Curtis to the hitching post. Silently they walked over to the door. Anna tried to avoid to meet his gaze first, but did eventually as she handed him his jacket.

“Thanks,” Albert chuckled and smiled at her as he took it back, making her heart skip a beat.

“Good luck tomorrow, I’m gonna be there.” Anna said, her voice slightly shivering with the look at him nodding awkwardly, while the smile did remain on his face.

“Okay...”   
A silent ‘good night’ was laying in her gaze, before she turned toward the door. Her hand already touching the knob, she could see Albert from the corner of her eye, unmoving, still standing on his spot.

_Don’t let go._

In an instant she stepped forward, cupped his face with her hands, drawing him into a passionate kiss, wordlessly pleading him to stay, if only for this moment.   
She couldn’t let him leave, didn’t want him to. At least, not before showing him what she felt. That this was more for her, more than a brief friendship. Far more.  
And as he responded, intensifying the kiss and wrapping his arms around her, she knew, he was feeling the same way. 

They allowed themselves to give in, to fully dive into the moment before breaking the kiss unwillingly, slightly out of breath, a deep, serious longing and affection in both their eyes as they met. 

Still...It was time now.

“Good night”, Albert stuttered, again chuckling nervously.

“Good night.”  
She just could smile back at him as she entered the hotel room, watching him through the glass of the door as she closed it slowly. He didn’t let go of her sight as he walked backwards, hands in the pockets of his trousers. Then he disappeared into the darkness of the street.

  
Anna’s heart jumped as a fearful thought hit her like a thunderbolt.  
What if? What if he didn’t make it tomorrow?  
She had meant what she’d said earlier at the barn dance. She would call it off if she didn’t believe in him.  
She did. She believed in him and also had she taken special care about his opponent. But...what if?

She might not be able to influence everything that was to come the next day, but hell, she’d be dammed if she would let him go now!

  
Anna ripped open the door and stumbled out on the front porch. 

“Albert!”

He just was about to untie Curtis from the post, as her yelling chilled him to the bone.

“Anna, what’s wrong?”

He ran back to the porch, meeting her gaze. The same longing in her eyes. He even could see it from out of the dark. She didn’t have to say another word.

He rushed to her, catching her up as she almost crashed into him.   
Drawing her close he rested his face at her neck, inhaling the scent of her hair, feeling the warmth of her body. It felt like coming home.  
“I’m here...” he breathed, smiling. “I won’t go.”

Anna smiled and turned her face, as she already felt his lips on hers again. In a smooth motion he lifted her up on his strong arms, carrying her inside, while not breaking the kiss for a second.

It was like every time he kissed her Anna became more and more addicted to his lips, as like never being satisfied, as like thirsting and being given salty waters.

Her heart was tumbling in her chest as he laid her down on the bed. He leaned over her, letting go of her kiss to look at her, his breath trembling in excitement.

She touched his cheek as she couldn’t turn from his hazel eyes. So warm, so inviting. Never had she met such eyes she’d wanted to lose herself into instead of escaping a stare, a cold stare out of bloodshot lizard eyes that Clinch used to force on her, vicious, possessive, suffocating...   
No. These were nothing alike. No one had ever looked at her like that, so full of sincerest adoration. But there was more to his look, like silently asking, reassuring, if she really wanted this to happen.   
She just nodded, tearing him down into a kiss again. 

Yes, she wanted nothing more, although she knew, there was so much to say, so much to tell him, so much that would hurt him and eventually tear him away but she couldn’t. Not now.   
Every moment was precious, too precious. Every touch of her fingertips on his skin, every breath of him she sensed on her face, every taste of his kiss, every move of his body. She could not miss a single thing. Not if she couldn’t say if it was the last night they ever had. 

Her lips locked with his she sat up, straddling him as her fingers started to undo the buttons of his vest, moved up to his collar bow, before she leaned back, loosening the skirts on her dress.

He couldn’t take his eyes away, as she smoothly stripped herself down to her undergarments, letting everything just drop to the floor, before she went on to undress him, tearing his shirt over his head.  
He swallowed as she drew closer again, wearing nothing but her bloomers and corset that shaped her body so delicately he barely could take it. And as she moved to untie the plaid green sashes in her hair, making her curls fall down her shoulders angelically, he thought he was going to lose his mind. 

“Anna... You’re so beautiful... I can’t...”

She could not unnotice his excitement, she could feel it down between her legs but it wasn’t repulsing her, nor scaring her, unlike she was used to. No, there was nothing repulsive about the man right in front of her, nothing scary about him. There was nothing but deepest affection she had never thought she could be feeling about a man.   
Her breath trembling, she didn’t say a thing as she touched his hands, guiding them to her back.

  
Albert took a deep breath, his fingertips tracing the fabric down her spine, as he let his sight linger on her face, taking her picture in, like memorizing it, locking it up in his mind forever. The shimmer in her eyes, the shape of her nose, the colour of her lips. 

It was hard though, but he didn’t want to do this in a rush, he wanted to take his time. As if he felt that this could be a moment he’d want to cherish for the rest of his life and he wanted to remember every single second of it. 

Slowly he loosened the strings of the corset, having Anna exhale in what appeared to be half relief and arousal, while covering her neckline in featherlight kisses, leaving her skin in shivers.

  
She closed her eyes as he softly placed her back down on the bed beneath him, skin to skin, their bodies fully exposed to one another, no more boundaries.  
And as their lips united again, as she drew him closer, wrapping her legs around his waist, they felt that there was no if or when or why, no later or tomorrow, no past or future. There was just them. Tonight. Here and now. 

~

Albert sighed, as he blew a kiss on Anna’s head, rested on his shoulder. Smiling he felt her cuddling closer into his embrace, as his fingers softly stroke up and down her arm. 

He’d never thought it’d turn out like this, that he would fall for the woman who wanted to help him reclaim his girlfriend, but it had happened. He couldn’t describe how and why, but from the moment he had laid his lips on hers for the first time, he’d been sure, he wouldn’t be fighting for Louise tomorrow. He would appear, would confront Foy, but only for Anna, to state that she hadn’t wasted her time with training him, he would show, that he wasn’t a coward anymore. And he would state, that his heart belonged to another woman now. A woman who’d shown him that he was lovable the way he was and that he deserved to be happy. The woman, he was lucky to hold in his arms, here in this moment.

  
“Are you alright?” He’d felt a slight shiver drawing through her. 

Anna shifted her head, facing him, her hand placed on his chest.

She couldn’t say what she was feeling. It was everything and nothing.  
Relief. Joy. Shame. Guilt. Love...

 _Love_.

She had fallen in love with him.

Damnit. 

She didn’t want to think about what that meant, how impossible that was. She didn’t want to think about what she would have to tell him, that she would have to hurt him. She would have to hurt him and she had no excuses. She would lose him.   
And that thought, she couldn’t bear.   
She just didn’t want to think. She could not.

“You’re cold, Anna?”  
Albert wrapped the covers tighter around her body, still looking at her.

She shook her head.

“I’m not. It’s fine.”   
At least, this wasn’t a lie.

  
A remarkable neigh sounded from outside, making Albert wince and listen up. Huffing, hooves stamping.   
He sighed. 

“Damn...Curtis... Guess he’s hungry. I actually intended to feed him when I’d return home from here, so... You don’t happen to have a little extra hay or some carrots in your drawer, do you?”

“I’m afraid not, I’m sorry.”   
Anna bit her lips, looking at him pitifully. She knew how much Albert cared about his animals, how much they meant to him. Especially Curtis and Bridget.   
“Guess you better head home then.” 

“Yeah, I better do that.”  
Albert stroked a lock out of her brow, letting his hand rest at her cheek. She touched it, leaving a peck on his palm, her eyes heavy. 

“Hey... I see you tomorrow.” He came closer, his lips touching hers.  
“It was beautiful”, he whispered.

“Yes, it was...”, Anna breathed, trying to hide the shiver in her voice. “I see you tomorrow.” 

He drew away from her with a smile that could not disguise the pain of his parting. Wordlessly he put on his clothes he gathered from the floor, before he leaned down to her again for a last kiss.

“Good night, Anna.”

“Good night, Albert.”

Anna swallowed, feeling that piercing pain in her throat again as he slipped out of her touch, yet she couldn’t draw her eyes away from him until he left out the door.

She listened to the hoofbeats disappearing into the night as she laid back, stretching out her arm, caressing the cold, deserted side of the bed.   
She did not even try to hold back the tears that had been waiting to fall so desperately. 

  
“Good night...”

Sobbing shook her as she closed her eyes, her fingers clawing into the blanket.

“A thousand times good night.” 


End file.
